


Dyssomnia

by lyriumspectrify



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Multi, Not really shippy tbh it's more focused on Sans's experience, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-10-20
Updated: 2015-10-20
Packaged: 2018-04-27 05:37:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,340
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5035894
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lyriumspectrify/pseuds/lyriumspectrify
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In Sans's experience, when the world is stuck worse than a skipping turntable disk and repeating the same lines over and over, it's better just to resign yourself to fate and deal with it since you can't change the facts.</p>
<p>Or, you can end up falling on your face in a bunch of snow because what you expect from time and time again repeating, doesn't happen. It's different.</p>
<p>And different is good.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Dyssomnia

Sans woke up fast, a burn in his eyesocket and an imaginary flutter in his chest that made him nearly swear that he had a heart to create it. He remained motionless. Unsure.

It wasn’t what he was used to. Not by a long shot. And when the world threw everyone left and right to the whims of _that child_ , it would usually feel the same.

That’s right… a burn like smoke in his eyesocket, along with a slow realization he would be doing this all over again, all the while surrounded by golden pillars that loomed like prison bars instead of magnificent architecture.

Because there, right now, that was his prison. There was no escape for him, no way out... If only it meant to stop the fast-approaching end.

But what was weird this time was his prison was nowhere to be found. He had woken up, a cold sweat which was now in the form of frozen beads on his skull as he reclined in his sentry station just beyond the Ruins and in the forest.

Back to square one.

Before this, every time the world got jerked backwards he would be waking up in the golden hall, footsteps echoing towards him once again. What he woke up from would immediately feel like a dream; hazy, barely there… Only a memory that might not have even happened in the first place.

After all… he falls asleep so much, right?

Sans sighed, finally allowing himself to move as he checked the cell phone in his pocket. The numbers lit up, indicating that it was an hour before he would meet the human for the first time. He paused.

_Why so far back…?_

While these thoughts crossed his mind, he absent-mindedly dialed Papyrus’s phone number, lifting the phone to his head before he even really considered what his actions were. But when the voice of his only brother greeted him, the invisible flutter became a brutal squeeze in his chest.

Relief.

“Sans??? Why are you calling me, you literally talked to me just five minutes ago! Don’t tell me... You need help from your cool, amazing brother to set your puzzles up, right???” his eager voice cut through the speaker.

Five minutes, huh? And yet it was only hours ago that his dust mixed, white in the snow...

Sans dipped his head down, his permanent grin feeling more genuine. “Nah, bro. Just realized I forgot to mention how cool you are. But you probably didn’t need me to tell you that,” he said, his relaxed demeanor cutting through the previous anxiety.

He practically _heard_ Papyrus puff up with pride through the phone. “Of course!! But, it’s still nice to hear it all the same.”

Sans felt his grin widen. He couldn’t resist. “In that case, better make sure you pack some extra mittens… or you’ll go from ‘cool’ to ‘frozen’ in no time.”

The reward was incoherent, angry babbling from the other line before he quietly hung up the phone, allowing himself a soft chuckle. He knew he teased Papyrus with his jokes quite often, but…

Who knows how many chances he’ll get to do that again. Sans would take every opportunity he could get.

Which reminded him… Isn’t it about time he started heading off to the Ruins?

With a soft sigh, he pushed himself up from his chair at his sentry station and scooted around the counter, slippered feet dipping into the snow before solidly stepping into it. Skin or no skin, it was still a bit chilly. Nothing he couldn’t handle though.

He’s had worse.

Everything still felt surreal as he began his trek towards the Ruins’ doors… was everyone really alive again? Every horror he witnessed, every death, every single pain inflicted to their world reversed? It felt like a dream, just like everything else always did. He supposed though... calling the previous events were more like nightmares than dreams. But yet, if they were just dreams, what did it matter? Nothing?

The burn that lingered now in the back of his skull suggested otherwise.

Exactly twenty minutes later, he arrived at the giant doors. His bones ached, and it wasn’t from the walking. He knew what was coming. He knocked on the door twice, rhythmically, trying to keep it the same tone as always.

Trying to make it sound like he was about to start a knock-knock joke, rather than a knock on wood in a vain hope that it might protect them from a jinx that would result in their deaths again.

“Who is there…” the down-trodden voice of the Lady Behind the Door answered.

Sans felt flooded with relief just like he did with Papyrus, but it stung bitter and sharp knowing what was coming next… That what she wanted protected so much by him would end up making her decorate the ruins with an extra layer of dust.

The usual questions were asked, promises made, and soon the lady was on her way again. Sans clenched and unclenched his hands, frustrated at himself that while he knew what would happen, he made this promise yet again in the silent hope that maybe, just maybe, things would be different this time. He quietly pulled out his cell phone again, staring solemnly at Papyrus’s name on the screen. Sans closed his eyes.

_Bro_ , he thought as he stepped quietly into the thick of the woods, unseen. _I trust ya enough to let you have your hope. I don’t know what you see in that hellspawn… But hey, maybe I’m wrong_ , he sighed softly to himself, leaning against a rock. He was now in the perfect spot to see when the human would exit the ruins. He shut his eyes, but anxiety kept him from sleeping. If he slept again… Would he wake up in those golden halls, ripped from his current spot and his barely-there hope of a difference?

“ _...Run away or fight!!_ ” the voice of the lady echoed from the doors, startling Sans off of his casual lean and flopping into the snow rather gracelessly. He lay in the snow a moment, processing this.

That was. Different.

And yet...

Different is good.

Sans was curious now. Something he hadn’t felt since the very first time he saw the human, whether it was a dream or real. What was going on in there…?

He hopped out of the snow as quickly as he could, dusting himself off as he quietly snuck as close to the door as he could. He could hear the lady’s voice, tone sad but strong on the other side. If only he could get closer…

But then he heard rushed footsteps leading away from the door. From his countless time spent here, he instantly knew those footsteps belonged to _her_.

Does that mean…?

Before he could soak it in, the doors to the Ruins creaked, beginning to open. Sans, caught off guard, quickly moved himself behind some bushes (was there a camera inside…?) and hid, knowing that he’s not supposed to be seen quite yet. He dared not move as soon as he was sure he was well-hidden.

Right on cue, the human’s head popped out from behind the giant doors. At the sight, Sans felt like acid was eating away at his bones, that ice-cold trickle of fear and disdain slowly crawling down his spine. How much pain is this kid going to cause this time? Seeing the human again chewed slowly at his earlier curiosity, devouring it slowly.

Who cares if one thing was different. That doesn’t mean things are going to change for the better. He could feel that burn in the back of his skull try to push forward, fighting it back only for the sake of his promise to his friend behind the door.

...Who was still _alive_.

He thoughtlessly sighed. He definitely can’t go back on his promise if she’s alive. He wouldn’t when she was dead either, but that’s besides the point.

However, he did wish he could go back and knock himself on the head for making that sound from his sigh, because as quiet as it was the human was now headed in his direction and he was starting to internally panic. What would he do? He can’t exactly leave from this spot, and he’s still hesitant about using a “shortcut” to get elsewhere…

He froze as the human leaned towards the bush…

...and the human tilted their head, tapped on the lens of the camera a few times, shrugged, and carried on with a skip in their step.

Sans could only imagine what it feels like for a balloon to deflate. It was probably something along the lines of what he was feeling now.

Quietly he shuffled out from behind the bush, hastening his steps to keep up with the kid. Something was… definitely different. Not just from his friend surviving, but the way the human walked and carried themself.

It was more… Alive? The kid certainly didn’t shamble around like a reanimated corpse like last time. They were a lot less… eerie.

It helped that their hands weren’t caked in dust this time, too.

Lost in his thoughts, Sans accidentally stepped on a heavy branch (again…?) and it snapped in two. Without thinking and with a flash in his mind, he was suddenly in the thick of the forest and out of sight just as the human turned around to look for the source of the sound. But, with nothing to find, the human shrugged and turned, continuing their journey away from the Ruins.

Suddenly Sans was out in the open path again without so much as a thought. His “shortcuts” didn’t tear him away from this after all. Maybe there’s something more to this timeline than he allowed himself to hope for.

He followed the human, just like he had many previous times until they reached his brother’s gate and finally stepped forward enough to make his presence known, footsteps crunching in the dry snow as he approached.

This. This would tell him just how different things would be.

“...Human,” Sans began coldly, a voice he barely recognized as his…

But just as soon as he got the first word out, the kid began to turn slowly to meet him face-to-face. Only caught off guard briefly, Sans held out his hand, watching them carefully. They reached out, and…

_...PTHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHhhhphthhhh…_

Yes. The whoopie cushion. Sans, despite everything he’s been through, will always enjoy pulling that one on this kid.

But what shocked him was the reaction.

The kid was _giggling_.

That was... _different_.

Sans’s long-standing grin grew wider in reaction.

“Heheh… The old whoopee cushion in the hand trick,” he said, shaking his head with a laugh. “it’s ALWAYS funny.”

Sans introduced himself like he usually would. Name, what he was supposed to be doing but wasn’t, his brother…

...His brother.

Sans felt dread attempt to crawl up his spine. Did he really have to introduce his brother this time? Maybe he could just. Skip the whole thing. Would that hurt anything…?

...But Papyrus would never forgive him if he learned he was hiding a human from him. If only his brother knew.

“C’mon,” Sans said, careful not to drop his facade. “Through this gate thingy. My bro made it too wide to stop anyone.”

He ushered the kid through, glancing at the hand he shook with briefly while he did so. There was no dusty residue left behind this time.

Sans nearly forgot to tell the kid to hide behind the lamp, expecting to be ignored anyways just like every single time he’s already suggested it. But, yet again, Sans was proven wrong as the kid scrambled over and hid perfectly behind the lamp as if they weren’t even there.

He stared at it blankly in stunned shock before Papyrus stomped in, bringing him back to the present moment.

“‘Sup, bro?”

***

Papyrus had left (a few puns later and without even checking the lamp after a few cheeky suggestions about doing so), and the human came out of hiding, trotting up to his side and peering up at him curiously. Sans did his best not to crack under the stare of the human, curiously lacking the murderous intent he had grown so used to seeing.

“...You oughta get going. He might come back. And if he does....” he paused for dramatic effect, winking, “...you’ll have to sit through more of my hilarious jokes.”

With a determined nod, the human stepped back, paused, and then turned to continue forward. Sans watched them go, unsure of what to say.

“Actually, hey…” his words came out on their own. “Hate to bother ya, but can you do me a favor?”

Papyrus has been rather down. He already knows the human will be something to cheer him up. Especially now that the human seemed, well. Actually human.

When the human agreed to play along and cheer his brother up, Sans thanked them sincerely with a nod.

“Thanks a million,” he said. “I’ll be up ahead.”

Without a second thought to allow him a chance to regret giving the human a chance, he turned on his heel and hurried back towards the doors to the Ruins and kept walking until he was back there, hands pressed hard against the doors while he hung his head.

He chuckled.

That chuckle became a giggle.

And soon, he was shaking with laughter, hands trembling as they slid off the doors and he sunk to his knees. He knocked on the door twice, but there was no response.

But for once, that was okay. It was _different_.

“Oh, lady,” he sighed, turning so his back was pressed against the door as he sat on the ground. “You might say… I’m a real _bonehead_ for giving this kid one more chance.”

He laughed softly to himself at the pun, his voice echoing quietly along the trees.

He hoped it was a chance at redemption he gave this kid, and not a chance to kill them all over again.


End file.
